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Well, I can fly the choppers. I don't seem to get the same speeds as the pros and of course the flying has been done on empty servers where nobody is shooting at me. I dunno how often I'll need to fly under bridges or through cranes but I can do it if necessary.

Finally got into the Havoc on Gulf of Oman (CQ) and managed to stay alive, not getting locked on, keeping low like Chris said to do. Managed to kill a tank and got an assist or two from the gunner's kills - and then I got shot down by a tank.

Well, I'm really struggling to do well in this game. I've never been a cautious player and you really get punished for that in BF3. On a plus note I managed to win a few dogfights in the heli. Not the majority but a few.

• L96 and its broken sights, service starred. How broken? By the end my 12x was glitched so bad that I wasn't compensating for bullet drop for people at range. That ****ed.
• With the completion of the L96, I have now earned a service star on every weapon that fires bullets, not including hand guns. OO-rah.
• Earned Mastery on the F2000, SCAR-H, and M27 IAR.
• Reached 500 grande kills.
• It's been a long journey, but when I returned to BF3 I was around 1.9 k/d. This fluctuated a lot, and I played the objective so it often went down, cratering in the low 1.7s before I started working it back up. This weekend I finally hit 2.0.

Couple of highlights from the weekend:

• Canals, gilp jumps in the Z-11 late on a mission to eliminate the opposing little bird. I spawn in shortly as an engineer with the goal to keep him in the air as long as possible. Chris engages and I get to work, however I start getting wrecked by stray bullets and soon my health drops to 10%. Frantically repairing before I die suddenly everything goes quiet and I realize that Chris has been shot out of the pilot's seat. I quickly cycle through, grab the controls, and pull her up and come about to the little bird he was engaged with. I immediately begin to lock-on and dog-fight resumes. They begin to inflict damage again, at which time Chris spawns in on me and begins repairing. I get my missiles off, take down the LB and we fly off into the sunset.

• I can't recall what map and with whom (I think chris and mattyb), but we joined a long ticket game 200 tickets in the hole and ended up turning it around and winning by 50 outright.

• Never forget Wake Island. Trying to keep D under a constant barrage of two helicopters and jets. War is hell, my friends.

• I have several black and blue marks from Crosbie's M320 direct impacting me several times on Metro last night.

• Got my first contact and disable with the TV missile last night. That thing is a real bear to use. Gonna keep at it, but I'm not seeing the advantage over regular guided missiles right now.

• Best tip I've handed out lately, now in print: When engineer friends are trying to engage a tank and you can not help, kamikaze run at the tank like a Support player. 9/10 they will freak out and start trying to avoid you, giving the engineer precious seconds to get their shots off.

---

Yeah, so I don't know if its just battlelog or their internal stats tracking but yesterdays' work may not have been recorded properly.

• I have several black and blue marks from Crosbie's M320 direct impacting me several times on Metro last night.

You know what's bullshit? None of those kills contributed towards my "Professional Russian" assignment, including that sweet triple kill I got on you & Bogues. The counter kept resetting at the end of each match. After 3 games, I had to reset my xbox to fix the problem.

You know what's bullshit? None of those kills contributed towards my "Professional Russian" assignment, including that sweet triple kill I got on you & Bogues. The counter kept resetting at the end of each match. After 3 games, I had to reset my xbox to fix the problem.

That's related to that bug above. It looks like the stat tracking is down for a lot of people (all?). It started after their maintenance Friday. They still have no ETA and haven't said if we'll keep our xp.

It's pretty sad that EA is trying to copy Call of Duty so hard they're replicating bugs I already encountered in MW3 last fall.

Battlefield 3 Premium launches on Monday 4th June for £39.99 / €49.99 / AU$79.95, according to Sony.
The PlayStation 3 maker listed the heavily rumoured package in its European PlayStation Store update today (since removed). It is yet to be confirmed by EA.

According to the update Battlefield Premium launches alongside the Battlefield 3 Close Quarters DLC expansion, which goes live on Monday 4th June for £11.99 / €14.99 / AU$23.95.

We had expected EA to announce Battlefield Premium, which gives gamers early access to BF3 expansions as well as other benefits, during its E3 press conference next week

Love it, now between this and the stats problem Battlefield twitter has twice the stonewalling to do.

FYI, the price sucks for any early adopters. Might as well just buy the DLC piecemeal (which is what I plan on doing after COD:Elite).

Love it, now between this and the stats problem Battlefield twitter has twice the stonewalling to do.

Reminds me of all the problems with Homefront and MW3 in the beginning.

Originally Posted by The Final Dakar

FYI, the price sucks for any early adopters. Might as well just buy the DLC piecemeal (which is what I plan on doing after COD:Elite).

Yeah, I have to agree. I think it's better buying the DLC piecemeal. First, you don't know if you're going to continue playing the game for a year, and second, having the DLC ahead of half the people sucks. I know with MW3, I've actually not played the maps in advance. I just waited till they come out to the general public.

1 assignment and 4 more ribbons to go. Any tips on getting a Nemesis or Air Warfare ribbon?

Nemesis - Play high ticket (500) TDM on Grand Bazaar, camp the double doorway in the center area w/ the M249 or assault rifle, preferably from the side by the road.
You'll grab this easily, I have 21 nemesis ribbons and I never actually "went after" them.

Air Warfare - Do as Dakar says, I think I played conquest on Wake Island and waited for the chopper gunner seat a few times. (this ribbon was a PITA, i only have 2 to date)

So, some weird stuff coming out. BF3 twitter still in full-on first 24 hours "looking into it" mode (even though we're now at least 72 hours in), but a Facebook post that must have been since deleted, but was picked up but a few sites, sheds some odd light on the subject:

This issue only affects games in which a player uses the FAMAS weapon. In any game where the FAMAS is used there is a chance that player stats and experience will not be recognized after the game. We are temporarily recommending that players avoid using the FAMAS and spread the word to fellow players to avoid the problems this error can cause.

Pretty weird right? I checked my stats: I did the get 10kills with the FAMAS this weekend to get the achievement, and my FAMAS kill total is unchanged from when I stopped using it. Second, last night Chris was complaining about a shitty gun he was using that I identified as the FAMAS. That's the game fatty and I are missing.

Question is, what the hell do you do to your infrastructure that causes use of a gun to bork your stat tracking? Amazing.

Highlight of my solo night: "hip-firing" a SMAW at a helicopter that was coming for me while protecting Charlie on Caspian Border, sending the helicopter crashing over my head. It had apparently taken some damage previously, but it sent me into my own little standing seizure.

Since the last update, there has been an interesting debate on the increased suppression effect we introduced. While a lot of players like the increased effect and the possibilities it introduced, some players felt suppression was becoming too powerful. Now, we are dialing the suppression effect back a notch. It will still be higher than it was prior to any of our patches. Let us know what you think of this tweak.

Sounds good.

We know a lot of you want to know whether a server you’re about to join is running extreme custom rules (such as setting the ticket count to max, leading to marathon games). By adding a “§” symbol in the console server browser, we make it quicker and easier for you to make an informed decision on where to join and where not to.

The “§” (see image above) signifies a server running custom rules. Note that this can still be either a Ranked or Unranked server, as some rule changes will turn a server Unranked, while some (such as ticket counts) do not affect the server’s Ranked status.

We are not enforcing this symbol. Instead, the “§” is a manual optional flag you can set if you are a server admin and want players to know you are running custom rules. We hope this will make it easier for server admins to get the right players flocking to their servers, while players will more easily find the type of gaming experience they prefer. Let us know what you think.

i.e., if you're the kind of douche that pretends to be an EA server, it is worthless.

Earlier, we introduced colorblind support for PC players. We are now very happy to extend this to console players as well. After installing the June update, you will find an option to turn colorblind support on in the options menu. This will affect the colors of HUD symbols to more clearly differentiate teams. You can see above what this will look like.

Colorblind mode - what all the wannabes run thinking it gives some kind of great advantage or makes them look "Pro".

Vehicle related changes
> Tweaked the F35 handling to more closely resemble that of the SU35 (see above).
> Jet & helicopter ECM Jammer should now deflect missiles more reliably when it is active.
> Fixed an issue where vehicles wouldn’t spawn if their intended space was occupied by a deployable gadget. The vehicle will now spawn as intended and the gadget will be destroyed in the process.
> Fixed AA missiles not doing damage to vehicles moving at very high speeds.
> Reduced the direct damage from unguided Javelins to require better side hits for a 1 hit disable. This was previously too forgiving and easy to accomplish.What the hell is an unguided Javelin?
> Removed the direct damage from aircraft launched guided missiles. Players will need to have laser designated targets for full effectiveness.No idea what this means, either.
> Adjusted the helicopter rockets to their original prepatch damage value against armored vehicles. This is a reduction; a revert of a knock on effect that was introduced accidentally.So I guess it's going to be harder for me to get kills as a chopper pilot. Oh well.
> Fixed the US Tank Guided Shell doing the reverse damage values when guided and unguided.This... actually explains a lot and makes me realize something. Before I left for MW3, I used the guided shell sparingly – mostly for long-range targets. In close quarters I found it to be kind of useless as it didn't do as much damage as the regular shell. Lately I've noticed that tanks I warm up with the unguided shell just explode when I get my guided shell through, surprisingly fast.

Of course, you have to realize what this means - those tank battles you're used to, which I thought had come down to a manageable pace, are about to accelerate again as the regular shell will now be devastating again.
> Adjusted the M224 mortar damage against vehicles. Some tweaks and adjustments in a previous update accidentally increased its effectiveness greater than intended.Wait, they made the Mortar less effective? Even if its against vehicles, that's crazy.
> Increased the range on the AA guns so they can reach vehicles hovering at the maximum height in select maps.
> Replaced the VDV buggy on Gulf of Oman (Back to Karkand) with the DPV buggy for both teams at the City flag.
> Fixed a bug where some vehicle unlocks were still enabled after the player left the vehicle.

Soldier and gadget related changes
> Reduced the inaccuracy added when in suppression. There is still an enhanced suppression compared to the initial state in the game, but the effect is now less than it was in the last patch (see above).
> Reduced input lag for gamepads/joysticks on all platforms. Aiming as a soldier when using a gamepad or joystick should now be more responsive.
> Tweaked the deploy times on gadgets to be faster to deploy in high stress combat situations.Wonder if this'll effect TUGs not deploying when yellow and the spawn beacon being a twat in general.
> Greatly improved the responsiveness when deploying a bipod when going prone and shortly after moving. The bipod deploy should no longer abort if the player deploys the bipod immediately after stopping.
> Fixed bug where you couldn’t deploy the mortar anywhere on Grand Bazaar.
> When changing the accessories of a weapon in the Customize screen, the weapon previously selected in the Deploy screen will now automatically be selected when entering the Accessories screen.
> Increased the effectiveness of the Aim Assist at close range. Testing in Close Quarters proved our current assist to be inadequate in tight quarters. This is a global change, and will improve the effectiveness of Aim Assist for all modes and maps. Aim Assist over distance is still significantly less effective. This is console only, as Aim Assist is not present on PC. If you prefer, you can also turn it off on console.Wonder what adverse effects this will have.
> Players will now spawn on the Radio Beacon looking in the same direction the Beacon is facing. The Beacon always faces in the direction the player is facing when it is planted. Previously the Beacon’s direction had no impact on the player’s spawn direction.It's a ****ing miracle!
> The Spawn Preview camera on the Spawn Beacon has been updated to better reflect the direction the player will be looking when he spawns.
> 40mm smoke now stays longer again.
> Tweaked some tracers on sniper rounds to have better visibility at range (the tracers are smaller).
> Tweaked the flashlight so it is less blinding at the edge of the screen.
> Fixed bug where you couldn’t pick up your deployed gadgets after being revived.Noticed this all the time when playing recon.

Weapons related changes
> Fixed a bug where Heavy Barrels and Underslung Shotguns could be over powered. (This is the so called M26 dart issue, see above)
> All semi-automatic sniper rifles now properly have shorter range when using a suppressor.
> The L96 now properly shoots where the iron sights are aimed. The position was previously offset.
> The SKS now has the proper damage values when using a suppressor. The damage was previously too low at close range.
> Slightly reduced the suppression effect of SKS rounds.
> Decreased the long range damage of the SKS to highlight its close to medium range role.
> Slightly decreased the foregrip aimed accuracy penalty on the M4A1 to bring it in line with other guns.
> Slightly increased the foregrip aimed accuracy penalty on the SCAR-H to bring it in line with other guns.
> Reduced some of the vertical recoil and zoomed accuracy penalties added to the FAMAS in the previous update. Buff
> F2000 foregrip accuracy penalty reduced and recoil reduction bonus increased. Buff, and color me curious since I thought it was a murder machine before
> AEK971 foregrip recoil reduction bonus increased.
> SG553 foregrip recoil reduction bonus increased.
> FAMAS foregrip recoil reduction bonus increased.
> Fixed the M416’s M26 with Flechettes not having a name in the kill log.
> Fixed so all clip based LMGs have Extended Mags as an available unlock. M27 now my favorite LMG.
> All semi-automatic shotguns now fire at 220rpm. There was previously simply a small difference between them, whereas now they have different pellet counts instead of rates of fire.This sounds stupid. I imagine the balance was between fire rate and pellets. Will there be clear winners now?
> Improved the recoil and accuracy of the M26 to match the 870.
> Reduced the impact suppression has on shotguns. Shotguns are still affected by Suppression but it should no longer significantly impact their accuracy from the hip as it previously did.
> The 870’s pump speed has been increased slightly from 0.55 seconds to 0.48 seconds. The empty reload time for the 870 has also been reduced slightly.
> Improved the accuracy of aimed shotguns when on the move.
> The Saiga’s recoil has been reduced.
> The M1014 now fires 10 projectiles. The other semi auto shotguns have 9 pellets, and since the M1014 has a lower mag size and a slower reload it now fires 10 pellets to give it some edge.
> The USAS-12 now fires 7 projectiles.
> The MK3A1 now fires 8 projectiles.
> Fixed so the weapon’s fire mode is saved between spawns.This is awesome, but let's see if it remembers after you've been revived.

Miscellaneous changes
> Added colorblind option for consoles (see above).
> Added colorblind icon for squad leader (all formats).
> Added the option for console server admins to show a symbol in the server browser signifying custom rules are in effect (see above).
> Fixed an issue where footsteps couldn’t be heard behind you.
> Fixed so that the arming of an M-COM station will not be cancelled if you look at a dropped weapon.
> Fixed exploit where you could teleport to the AA gun on carriers by firing an EOD bot at its door.
> Fixed co-op ammo HUD not showing on first enter.
> Fixed so you get prompted if you really want to switch team when pressing the Switch team button.i.e., waste my time. Who was "accidentally" switching teams?
> Fixed so that Assignments are being correctly sorted on the My Soldier\Assignments screen.
> Fixed issue with commorose not working on soldiers in vehicles (PC).
> Added blinking capture point icons in the 3D HUD, and added blinking neutral icons in objectives bar.Great add.
> Composed a more informative error message for when a console player attempts to rent a server in a location where there are currently no servers available.
> Fix for dog tag icons in the My Soldier/Assignments screen appearing slightly stretched.
> Fixed some tracers appearing behind the soldier or vehicle that fired them.I'm thinking this might mean those odd times I was being indicated that I was taking damage from behind when someone in front of me was firing is fixed.
> Potential random audio crash fix.We'll see about this.

Well, after doing some research, it appears the TV missile is a piece of crap on consoles. After two near misses last night, I give up. Guided missile would be more useful. It seems like I'm a deficit to the chopper when I'm wasting time guiding the missile when I could be letting off a self-guided missile and following up with the gun. I don't think it does any more damage than a guide missile, either, and considering the degree of difficulty, the damn thing should be a OHK.

Nemesis - Play high ticket (500) TDM on Grand Bazaar, camp the double doorway in the center area w/ the M249 or assault rifle, preferably from the side by the road.
You'll grab this easily, I have 21 nemesis ribbons and I never actually "went after" them.

I might try this. I recently unlocked the M249. That gun is a beast.

Originally Posted by Kevin Bogues

What assignment do you have left?

Scarred Veteran. I need two more kills with the BTR-90 IFV and 1hr 2mins remaining on Sharqi.

They deployed the fix this morning so everything should be okay. Good, because I swear the glitch mutated last night; I got most of my experience, but I don't think any of my weapon kills registered. Which is pretty much the opposite of what I'm concerned about.

Oh, and I'm so lucky because this game happened and it didn't count:

700 ticket game. I got revived 5+ times. Could are less about the kills, really, but my new best killstreak is now gone forever. Pricks. (I should have gotten MVP, too) I went nuts with my pistol too. ****ers.

---

People on twitter are asking of the missing xp will return and DICE still has no answer. I don't see any way they could reconcile the stats, but its interesting that they aren't saying no yet.

The anwser for the missing xp will be a definitive "nope sorry" but that won't come out until at least a few days of CQ and BF premium sales. EA is too scared of any conflict at this point that would hurt sales.

EDIT: but I do smell a Double XP weekend for BF3 Premium right after E3 as an "apology"

Haha, people are reporting the stats problem is still not fixed. Battlefield twitter went from "Yes, it's fixed" back to "It's a problem with the FAMAS right now, it's known and we're looking into it."

I didn't play much Halo, but I imagine that you could do some fun stuff with vehicles (as well as filming or taking photos of yourself). Well I have a feeling that the vehicles in BF3 appeal to those who enjoyed Halo.

Sandwiching an enemy between a tanker and your nearly-out-of-control jeep is so satisfying. Planting mines around flags and disabling tanks is even better than claymores in MW3. Shooting down helis with the cannister in the tank is like having a giant shotgun for clay pigeon shooting. I may try the jihad jeep method in some upcoming games.

Aside from riding around in a chopper, my soft-spot is for the infantry battles. Bladek and I were discussing it yesterday, and he said his favorite class was the engineer because it was useful on all maps except maybe infantry. I countered that support is by far my favorite class. Certainly it's more flexible than Engineer. I do have to say I've coem to enjoy using the RPK with extended mags. Getting triple and quad kills (or suppressions) have started to become not completely unheard of.